“A people that values its privileges above its principles soon loses both.”

And

“Humility must always be the portion of any man who receives acclaim earned in the blood of his followers and the sacrifices of his friends.”

And

“I would rather try to persuade a man to go along, because once I have persuaded him, he will stick. If I scare him, he will stay just as long as he is scared, and then he is gone.”

And

“In preparing for battle I have always found that plans are useless, but planning is indispensable.”

And

“Leadership is the art of getting someone else to do something you want done because he wants to do it.”

And

“The older I get the more wisdom I find in the ancient rule of taking first things first. A process which often reduces the most complex human problem to a manageable proportion.”

And

“The supreme quality for leadership is unquestionably integrity. Without it, no real success is possible, no matter whether it is on a section gang, a football field, in an army, or in an office.”

And

“What counts is not necessarily the size of the dog in the fight – it’s the size of the fight in the dog.”

And

“When you are in any contest, you should work as if there were – to the very last minute – a chance to lose it. This is battle, this is politics, this is anything.”

And

“You don’t lead by hitting people over the head – that’s assault, not leadership.”

And

“An intellectual is a man who takes more words than necessary to tell more than he knows.”

And

“Don’t join the book burners. Do not think you are going to conceal thoughts by concealing evidence that they ever existed.”

And

“Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired, signifies in the final sense a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed.”

And

“Farming looks mighty easy when your plow is a pencil and you’re a thousand miles from the corn field.”

And

“Here in America we are descended in blood and in spirit from revolutionists and rebels – men and women who dare to dissent from accepted doctrine. As their heirs, may we never confuse honest dissent with disloyal subversion.”

And

“History does not long entrust the care of freedom to the weak or the timid.”

And

“How far you can go without destroying from within what you are trying to defend from without?”

And

“I hate war as only a soldier who has lived it can, only as one who has seen its brutality, its futility, its stupidity.”

And

“I have one yardstick by which I test every major problem – and that yardstick is: Is it good for America?”

And

“I like to believe that people in the long run are going to do more to promote peace than our governments. Indeed, I think that people want peace so much that one of these days governments had better get out of the way and let them have it.”

And

“If a problem cannot be solved, enlarge it.”

And

“If you want total security, go to prison. There you’re fed, clothed, given medical care and so on. The only thing lacking… is freedom.”

And

“May we never confuse honest dissent with disloyal subversion.”

And

“Neither a wise man nor a brave man lies down on the tracks of history to wait for the train of the future to run over him.”

And

“Only strength can cooperate. Weakness can only beg.”

And

“Our real problem, then, is not our strength today; it is rather the vital necessity of action today to ensure our strength tomorrow.”

And

“Plans are nothing; planning is everything.”

And

“The history of free men is never really written by chance but by choice; their choice!”

And

“The spirit of man is more important than mere physical strength, and the spiritual fiber of a nation than its wealth.”

And

“There is nothing wrong with America that faith, love of freedom, intelligence, and energy of her citizens cannot cure.”

And

“We will bankrupt ourselves in the vain search for absolute security.”

And

“When people speak to you about a preventive war, you tell them to go and fight it. After my experience, I have come to hate war.”

And

“Soldiers, Sailors and Airmen of the Allied Expeditionary Force!

You are about to embark upon the Great Crusade, toward which we have striven these many months. The eyes of the world are upon you. The hopes and prayers of liberty-loving people everywhere march with you. In company with our brave Allies and brothers-in-arms on other Fronts, you will bring about the destruction of the German war machine, the elimination of Nazi tyranny over the oppressed peoples of Europe, and security for ourselves in a free world.

Your task will not be an easy one. Your enemy is well trained, well equipped and battle hardened. He will fight savagely.

But this is the year 1944! Much has happened since the Nazi triumphs of 1940-41. The United Nations have inflicted upon the Germans great defeats, in open battle, man-to-man. Our air offensive has seriously reduced their strength in the air and their capacity to wage war on the ground. Our Home Fronts have given us an overwhelming superiority in weapons and munitions of war, and placed at our disposal great reserves of trained fighting men. The tide has turned! The free men of the world are marching together to Victory!

I have full confidence in your courage and devotion to duty and skill in battle.

We will accept nothing less than full Victory! Good luck! And let us beseech the blessing of Almighty God upon this great and noble undertaking.”

Order of the Day (2 June 1944) Message to troops before the Normandy landings

And

“We must be ready to dare all for our country. For history does not long entrust the care of freedom to the weak or the timid. We must acquire proficiency in defense and display stamina in purpose. We must be willing, individually and as a Nation, to accept whatever sacrifices may be required of us. A people that values its privileges above its principles soon loses both. These basic precepts are not lofty abstractions, far removed from matters of daily living. They are laws of spiritual strength that generate and define our material strength. Patriotism means equipped forces and a prepared citizenry. Moral stamina means more energy and more productivity, on the farm and in the factory. Love of liberty means the guarding of every resource that makes freedom possible–from the sanctity of our families and the wealth of our soil to the genius of our scientists.”

First Inaugural address (20 January 1953)

And

“As we peer into society’s future, we — you and I, and our government — must avoid the impulse to live only for today, plundering for our own ease and convenience the precious resources of tomorrow. We cannot mortgage the material assets of our grandchildren without risking the loss also of their political and spiritual heritage. We want democracy to survive for all generations to come, not to become the insolvent phantom of tomorrow.”

And

“In preparing for battle, I have always found that plans are useless but planning is indispensable.”

And

“Character in many ways is everything in leadership. It is made up of many things, but I would say character is really integrity. When you delegate something to a subordinate, for example, it is absolutely your responsibility, and he must understand this. You as a leader must take complete responsibility for what the subordinate does. I once said, as a sort of wisecrack, that leadership consists of nothing but taking responsibility for everything that goes wrong and giving your subordinates credit for everything that goes well.”

Wikipedia:  Dwight Eisenhower

“I do believe we are going to have a major war, with Japan and Germany, and that the war is going to start by a very serious surprise attack and defeat of U.S. armed forces, and that there is going to be a major revulsion on the part of the political power in Washington against all those in command at sea, and they are going to be thrown out, though it won’t be their fault necessarily. And I wish to be in a position of sufficient prominence so that I will then be considered as one to be sent to sea, because that appears to be the route.”  On his expectations of war, and that he would someday become the Chief of Naval Operations, in a conversation during the mid 1930s with his son, Chester W. Nimitz, Jr.

And

“A ship is always referred to as “she” because it costs so much to keep her in paint and powder.”

And

“Through the skill and devotion to duty of their armed forces of all branches in the Midway area our citizens can now rejoice that a momentous victory is in the making.”
After the Battle of Midway, CINCPAC Communiqué No. 3, June 6, 1942

And

“Is the proposed operation likely to succeed?
What might be the consequences of failure?
Is it in the realm of practicability in terms of material and supplies?”
“Three favorite rules of thumb” Nimitz had printed on a card he kept on his desk

And

“They fought together as brothers in arms; they died together and now they sleep side by side…To them, we have a solemn obligation — the obligation to ensure that their sacrifice will help make this a better and safer world in which to live.”  Of those who died in the war in the Pacific, after ceremonies in Tokyo Bay accepting the official surrender of Japan, September 2, 1945

And

“The U.S.’s major strength factor and weapon is its economy. If you cripple it, you cripple the military.”  As quoted in “According to Plan” in TIME magazine, March 13, 1950

And

“That is not to say that we can relax our readiness to defend ourselves. Our armament must be adequate to the needs, but our faith is not primarily in these machines of defense but in ourselves.”  Speech at the University of California, Berkeley, March 22, 1950

And

“God grant me the courage not to give up what I think is right even though I think it is hopeless.”

And

“Sir Walter Raleigh declared in the early 17th century that “whoever commands the sea, commands the trade; whosoever commands the trade of the world commands the riches of the world, and consequently the world itself.” This principle is as true today as when uttered, and its effect will continue as long as ships traverse the seas.”  Employment of Naval Forces, 1948

And

“The final objective in war is the destruction of the enemy’s capacity and will to fight, and thereby force him to accept the imposition of the victor’s will.”

And

“The qualities of the Nimitz character were apparent in his face, in his career, and in his heritage; combined these factors made him precisely the man he was and placed him in this particular situation at this moment in history. … He was not a cold man, or a bad tempered man — quite the contrary — to the world he presented a figure of almost total complacency; he seldom lost his temper or raised his voice. … It could be said that King was a driver who knew how to lead; it could also be said that Nimitz was a leader who conquered any personal urge to drive, and achieved his ends more by persuasion and inspiration to men under his command.”  Edwin Palmer Hoyt in How They Won the War in the Pacific : Nimitz and His Admirals (2000), p. 28 – 29

And

“On April 13, 1943, Allied radio intelligence intercepted a message carrying the travel itinerary of Admiral Yamamoto. The detail in the message listed flight and ground schedules and included what type of fighter escort would be provided. Major Red Lasswell of FRUPAC broke the coded message. The decision of what to do with the information was left to Admiral Nimitz. Nimitz consulted Layton as to what the ramifications would be if Yamamoto were removed. They considered that he might be replaced with a better commander, and Nimitz felt familiar with Yamamoto as his opponent. Layton felt nobody could adequately replace Yamamoto, and based on this opinion Nimitz gave Admiral Halsey the authority to carry out the intercept of Yamamoto’s aircraft. On 18 April, a flight of P-38 fighters with specially selected pilots and equipped with long-range fuel tanks shot down Yamamoto’s aircraft, killing one of Japan’s top naval leaders.”  Ricky J. Nussio, in Sherman and Nimitz: Executing Modern Information Operations (2001)

And

“He surrounded himself with the ablest men he could find and sought their advice, but he made his own decisions. He was a keen strategist who never forgot that he was dealing with human beings, on both sides of the conflict. He was aggressive in war without hate, audacious while never failing to weigh the risks.”  E. B. Potter, Naval historian at the US Naval Academy, quoted on the cover jacket of his book Nimitz (1976)

And

“Of the Marines on Iwo Jima, uncommon valor was a common virtue.”

And

“He brought to his new job a number of advantages, including experience, a detailed knowledge of his brother officers, and a sense of inner balance and calm that steadied those around him. He had the ability to pick able subordinates and the courage to let them do their jobs without interference. He molded such disparate personalities as the quiet, introspective Raymond A. Spruance and the ebullient, aggressive William F. Halsey, Jr. into an effective team.”  Robert William Love, on the rise of Nimitz to CINCPAC in The Chiefs of Naval Operations

Wikipedia:  Chester William Nimitz

“Egotism is the anesthetic that dulls the pain of stupidity.”

And

“Give me a lead of 14-0 at halftime and I will dictate the final score.”

And

“There are no shortcuts in life – only those we imagine.”

And

“When the going gets tough, let the tough get going.”

And

“A school without football is in danger of deteriorating into a medieval study hall.”

And

“Lads, you’re not to miss practice unless your parents died or you died.”

Wikipedia:  Frank Leahy

“Coaching is a profession of love. You can’t coach people unless you love them.”

And

“My players can wear their hair as long as they want and dress any way they want. That is, if they can afford to pay their own tuition, meals and board.”

And

“People talk about the record I’ve compiled at Grambling, but the real record is the fact that for over 50 years I’ve had one job and one wife. I don’t believe anybody can out-American me.”

And

“I’ve learned more about what the players meant to me and what they meant to the game. I never won a game – they did. You learn from every player because they’re not the same.”

And

“Everything I’ve done, I think I dreamed of it first.”

And

“The will to win, the desire to succeed, the urge to reach your full potential… these are the keys that will unlock the door to personal excellence.”

And

“Coach each boy as if he were your own son”

And

“Leadership, like coaching, is fighting for the hearts and souls of men and getting them to believe in you”

And

“They call me the greatest. I know that the greatest football coach who ever stepped on the field is Coach Eddie Robinson. I have admired what he has done in turning boys into men. He is a credit to his sport as well as a credit to humanity.”  Muhammad Ali

And

“First time I met Eddie was around 1968 up at Uniontown, Pa. I was an assistant coach at West Virginia, and he was the head coach at Grambling and very successful. He came up there and spoke at a banquet. I heard him speak, and he’s the kind of guy that you get close to immediately. … He was a people’s person. You can’t help but like him … I doubt if there is a coach in the United States that people have more respect for — and loved — than for Eddie Robinson.”  Bobby Bowden

Eddie G. Robinson Museum

Wikipedia: Eddie Robinson

“Believe in honest, positive dissent.”

And

Football is not an “I” game. It’s a “we” game.”

And

“Nothing has changed about what makes a winner. A winner works his butt off and is dependable. He’s not always the most talented, but he gives everything on every play.”

And

“At Auburn, practice is Hell. But when you line up across the big, fast, smart, angry boys from Florida, and Georgia, and Alabama, where there is no quality of mercy on the ground and no place to hide, you’ll know why practice is Hell at Auburn.”

And

Don’t wait to be a great man. Be a great boy.”

And

“I don’t believe in miracles. I believe in character”

And

“Life is short, so don’t waste any of it carrying around a load of bitterness. It only sours your life, and the world won’t pay any attention anyway.”

And

“If you’re a football coach, criticism comes with the territory. If it tears you up, you better get into another profession.”

Before the 1981 Iron Bowl between Alabama and Auburn, Paul “Bear” Bryant and Pat Dye (Pat Dye coached for Paul Bryant for nine years on the Alabama staff):

Pat Dye:  ”Coach Bryant, before you start hugging me, you ought to know that my boys are fixing to get after y’all’s ass.” 

Paul Bryant:  ”You ain’t trying to scare me now, are you, Pat?”

Pat Dye:  ”No sir, because I know you don’t get scared. I’m just telling you what we’re fixing to do.”

And

“A game like this, Alabama players will remember it for the rest of their lives. Auburn players…it’ll eat their guts out the rest of their lives.” Former Auburn coach Pat Dye to a reporter after Van Tiffen kicked his 52 yard field goal to beat Auburn in 1985.

Wikipedia:  Pat Dye

“When your team is winning, be ready to be tough, because winning can make you soft. On the other hand, when your team is losing, stick by them. Keep believing.”

And

“Those who stay will be champions”

And

“If I make a mistake, I’m going to make a mistake aggressively and I’m going to make it quickly. I don’t believe in sleeping on a decision.”

And

“A Michigan man will coach Michigan.”

And

“We want the Big 10 championship. And we’re going to win it as a TEAM. They can throw out all those great backs and great quarterbacks and great defensive players throughout the country and in this conference. But there’s going to be one team that is going play solely as a team. No man is more important than the team. No coach is more important than the team. THE TEAM! THE TEAM! THE TEAM! And if we think that way, all of us, everything that you do you take into consideration what effect does it have on my team? Because you can go into professional football, you can go anywhere you want to play after you leave here, you will never play for a team again. You’ll play for a contract. You’ll play for this. You’ll play for that. You’ll play for everything except the team. And think what a great thing it is to be a part of something that is THE TEAM! We’re going to win it. We’re going to win the championship again because we’re going to play as a team better than anyone else in the conference. We’re going to play together as a TEAM. We’re going to believe in each other. We’re not going to criticize each other. We’re not going to talk about each other. We’re going to encourage each other! And when we play as a team, when the old season is over, you and I know it’s going to be Michigan again. Michigan!”

And

Book Review: Bo’s Lasting Lessons, Three Star Leadership Blog  - (Amazon.com Bo’s Lasting Lessons)

“Successful sports coaches seem to think that it’s part of their game plan to write books. After all, they’re celebrities of a sort and they know something about “winning” which is a popular topic with readers of all kinds.

Bo Schembechler is one of the most successful coaches in the history of college football. He coached Michigan football for twenty years, compiling a record of 234-65-8. During that time his teams won or tied for the Big Ten championship 13 times. He never had a losing season.

That’s why it’s somewhat amazing that it took so long for Bo’s Lasting Lessons to appear. But Bo Schembechler always did things his own way.

There are three big lessons in this book: values matter, keep the rules simple, and enforce them no matter what.

Values mattered for Schembechler. Honesty was the big one. He was going to be honest no matter what and he expected the same from his coaches, his players, and everyone else. The idea was simple: always do the right thing.

He kept the rules simple. He also made sure everyone who worked for him understood the rules. They included how players were to sit in team meetings and how they were expected to dress on road trips.

He enforced the rules he had. If anyone broke Bo’s rules there were consequences. And those consequences were as inevitable as nature.

Those are the big lessons, but there are lots of lessons and bits of wisdom scattered through the book. Here are some of my favorites.

If you’re the boss you have to accept the fact that you’re the bad cop and your assistants will be the good cops.

Don’t hire smart people and then not listen to their opinions.

Seek mentors, not money, especially in the early stages of your career.

Whatever your philosophy, whatever your standards, whatever your expectations, you establish those on day one. Don’t waste a second!

Recruit for character.

Develop leaders underneath you.

Goals can’t come from the top down. They’ve got to come from the people responsible for achieving them. Your job is to help them get there, and remind them every day what their goals are, and what they have to do to make their dreams come true.

Scuttle the star system. Give everyone a role and make it important.

Emphasize execution, not innovation.

There are lots more but you can find them for yourself when you read the book. I’ve got lots of things underlined, and Post-It notes dangle off lots of pages.

There are some things to watch for. First off, some of Bo’s recommendations don’t translate well to any environment other than an athletic team. Be prepared to modify them to suit.

And some things that Bo did back in the Sixties and Seventies aren’t things you can do today. Some of that involves privacy laws. Some of that is the way the world has changed. Be prepared to adapt that material, too.

Over the years, I’ve read lots of books by athletic coaches about how to achieve personal and business success. I’m almost always disappointed, but not this time.

This is an enjoyable and helpful book, in part because co-author John Bacon lets us see what I’m sure is the authentic Bo Schembechler. And Bo was a wise man and clear speaker.”

Wikipedia:  Bo Schembechler

“I’ve had smarter people around me all my life, but I haven’t run into one yet that can outwork me. And if they can’t outwork you, then smarts aren’t going to do them much good. That’s just the way it is. And if you believe that and live by it, you’d be surprised at how much fun you can have.”

And

“Without winners, there wouldn’t even be any civilization.”

And

“There’s nothing that cleanses your soul like getting the hell kicked out of you.”

And

“The height of human desire is what wins, whether it’s on Normandy Beach or in Ohio Stadium.”

And

“I’m not coming here looking for security. I came here for the opportunity.” Upon accepting Ohio State head coaching job

And

“Paralyze resistance with persistence.”

And

“I don’t live in the past. I’m a student of the past, and I try to learn from the past, although some people will say, ‘You haven’t done a very good job of it.’ But for me to live in the past? Hell, no.’”

And

“A man is always better than he thinks.”

And

“I can accept failure, but I can’t accept not trying.”

And

“The time you give a man something he doesn’t earn, you cheapen him. Our kids earn what they get, and that includes respect.”

And

“Success – it ‘s what you do with what you’ve got.”

And

“Coaches who can outline plays on a black board are a dime a dozen. The ones who win get inside their players heads and motivate them.”

And

“I’m not trying to win a popularity poll. I’m trying to win football games. I don’t like nice people. I like tough, honest people.”

And

“I don’t apologize for anything. When I make a mistake, I take the blame and go on from there. I just despise to lose, and that has taken a man of mediocre ability and made a pretty good coach out of him.”

And

“Just remember one thing. I can do your job, but you can’t do mine.” – to an OSU professor

And

“I love football. I think it is most wonderful game in world and I despise to lose.”

Wikipedia:  Woody Hayes

R.I.P. the Great Ken Venturi who passed away on Friday at the age of 82.

There are a number of Coaches Hot Seat members that grew up in San Francisco in the 1970s playing golf at the same municipal/public golf course that Ken Venturi did in the 1940s and 1950s….

Harding Park Golf Course

View Larger Map

….and we had many opportunities to run into Mr. Venturi over the years at professional and golf events around the country and to a person we have always had the utmost amount of respect for Ken as a golfer and especially as a man.

You will be terribly missed Mr. Venturi.

Godspeed to you Ken.

“I don’t believe you have to be better than everybody else. I believe you have to be better than you ever thought you could be.”

And

“There are two great rules of life: never tell everything at once.”

And

“Victory is everything. You can spend the money but you can never spend the memories.”

Wikipedia:  Ken Venturi

“A boy shows how much he wants to play in the spring, when it’s tough, and during two a days, when it’s hot and tough. I don’t count on the boy who waits till October, when it’s cool and fun, then decides he wants to play. Maybe he’s better than three guys ahead of him, but I know those three won’t change their minds in the fourth quarter.”

And

“Breaks balance out. The sun don’t shine on the same ol’ dog’s rear end every day.”

And

“Football doesn’t build character. It eliminates the weak ones.”

And

“I learned this about coaching: You don’t have to explain victory and you can’t explain defeat.”

And

“Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity.”

And

“Once you cross the 50 you feel like an unsaddled horse.”

And

“Punt returns will kill you quicker than a minnow can swim a dipper.”

And

“You know, a football coach is nothing more than a teacher. You teach them the same subject, and you have a group of new guys every year.”

And

“You’ve got to think lucky. If you fall into a mudhole, check your back pocket – you might have caught a fish.”

And

“You’ve got to be in a position for luck to happen. Luck doesn’t go around looking for a stumblebum.”

And

“On game day, I am more nervous than a pig in a packing plant.”

And

“There’s an old saying, ‘You dance with who brung ya.’”

And

“Really, it was said about two-thirds in jest. Since we won the Arkansas and Notre Dame games with fourth-down and short-yardage passes, another image has arisen. I’ve been pictured as a man who takes chances. Two stinkin’ plays, and I’m a helluva gambler.”

And

And

“Some of them are so green you could hide ‘em on top of a lettuce leaf.”

And

“He could run like small-town gossip.”

And

“Ol’ Ugly is better than Ol’ Nothing.”

And

“They’re gonna come after us with their eyes pulled up like BBs.”

And

“There was a hornet’s nest waiting for us in Houston, and we were walking into it like Little Red Riding Hood with jam on her face.”

And

“Winning coaches must treat mistakes like copperheads in the bedclothes – avoid them with all the energy you can muster.”

And

“The best thing a coach can hope for is to please the majority. And the only way to please the majority is to win.”

And

“I’m pretty thin-skinned. When they say, ‘Do you want some constructive criticism?’ I say, ‘No.’”

And

“It’s an in-the-trench battle. It’s meat on meat, flesh on flesh and stink on stink. And that’s the only way you can play it.”

And

“Trends are bunk. Only angry people win football games.”

And

“We don’t want candy stripes on our uniforms. These are work clothes.”

And

“He’s as quick as a hiccup.”

And

“He doesn’t have a lot of speed, but maybe Elizabeth Taylor can’t sing.”

Wikipedia: Darrell Royal

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“But this is the great danger America faces. That we will cease to be one nation and become instead a collection of interest groups: city against suburb, region against region, individual against individual. Each seeking to satisfy private wants.”

And

“Do not call for black power or green power. Call for brain power.”

And

“Education remains the key to both economic and political empowerment.”

And

“For all of its uncertainty, we cannot flee the future.”

And

“I felt somehow for many years that George Washington and Alexander Hamilton just left me out by mistake. But through the process of amendment, interpretation, and court decision, I have finally been included in “We, the people.”

And

“I never intended to become a run-of-the-mill person.”

And

“If we promise as public officials, we must deliver. If we as public officials propose, we must produce.”

And

“If you’re going to play the game properly, you’d better know every rule.”

And

“Let each person do his or her part. If one citizen is unwilling to participate, all of us are going to suffer. For the American idea, though it is shared by all of us, is realized in each one of us.”

And

“Let us heed the voice of the people and recognize their common sense. If we do not, we not only blaspheme our political heritage, we ignore the common ties that bind all Americans.”

And

“More is required of public officials than slogans and handshakes and press releases. More is required. We must hold ourselves strictly accountable. We must provide the people with a vision of the future.”

And

“The citizens of America expect more. They deserve and they want more than a recital of problems.”

And

“There is no executive order; there is no law that can require the American people to form a national community. This we must do as individuals and if we do it as individuals, there is no President of the United States who can veto that decision.”

And

“There is no obstacle in the path of young people who are poor or members of minority groups that hard work and preparation cannot cure.”

And

“We are a people trying not only to solve the problems of the present: unemployment, inflation… but we are attempting on a larger scale to fulfill the promise of America.”

And

“We call ourselves public servants but I’ll tell you this: we as public servants must set an example for the rest of the nation. It is hypocritical for the public official to admonish and exhort the people to uphold the common good.”

And

“We must exchange the philosophy of excuse – what I am is beyond my control for the philosophy of responsibility.”

And

“What the people want is very simple – they want an America as good as its promise.”

And

“What we have to do is strike a balance between the idea that government should do everything and the idea, the belief, that government ought to do nothing. Strike a balance.”

Wikipedia:  Barbara Jordan